Заревом над прахом / Like a Blaze Above the Ashes

Forest's last album might've not been perfect, but there was some potential sprinkled into the tracks. Kaldrad seemed to have noticed this too, because in 1997, the band released another album titled "Like a Blaze Above the Ashes". Unlike last time, though, we can already start to see the signature sounds of Forest come to fuision. Not only are the atmospheres stronger here, but the craftsmanship in the instrumentals have especially improved a lot.

Beginning with the first track "Звоном молотов зови", things initially feel like it's gonna be the same. We hear a guitar play a dark, yet melodic riff that repeats a similar riff throughout the track, as well as some repetitive blastbeats and a bass that's barely audible. However, the main difference here is that this track evokes an even grander atmosphere than the previous album. The self-titled album had a good atmosphere, but it felt a bit restricted and not as vast, whereas here, it truly feels like you're in the sky and watching over acres of forestland. And this is just a warmup for the second-half of the album, which includes my favorites tracks from this band. The third track "Лютой стуже" is a nearly-17 minute epic that mainly consists of a droning guitar riff that is raw, but is very melodic and atmospheric in composition and structure, which builds up into an amazing black metal part that leans more towards folk tunes. And it gets even better with the album's closing track "Тьма", which mainly consists of a calming acoustic guitar that plays a soft riff. It's simple, but it's very effective at its folk-like atmosphere, and it even rivals some of the other folk tracks that Branikald did at that time. The only "weak" instrumental is with the second track "Холодом знанья злом возданья", as while it's still good, felt more like leftovers for the first track. Otherwise, the instruments on this album have improved greatly, and its atmospheric moments are much stronger.

And as for the vocals, they've also been improved upon. Kaldrad does the vocals here again, and he does continue doing the same shrieks and growls he did in the last album. However, when paired up with these kinds of instrumentals, they actually feel more stronger. Going back to the first two tracks, the more atmospheric nature of the raw riffs flow well with Kaldrad's shrieks, as he further enhances the angst and anger in the riffs. And in the last track in particular, Kaldrad goes for some folk-like chants that have a strong echo effect, only further expanding the grand atmosphere as well as adding some sorrow with some occasional shrieks. The vocals are still as amazing as ever, and are only further strengthened with the fantastic instruments.

Besides the second track being a bit weaker, just about every other track on here is damn near perfection. Whether it be the raw, atmospheric black metal in the first track or the chilling, yet calming acoustic guitar in the last track, Like a Blaze Above the Ashes is generally a beautiful album that serves as a great successor to the last record. We haven't even gotten into the next two records, which are actually even better, but for now, this album is something you cannot miss out on.

If someone wanted to know what black metal was, I wouldn't hesitate to show them "Like a Blaze Above the Ashes" as an example. Imagine taking the best parts of Darkthrone's "Blaze in the Northern Sky", its cold, bitter, unsettling atmosphere, with the hypnotic, trance-inducing sense of being lost in the wild via Darkthrone's "Transilvanian Hunger" and you might come a little close to capturing the sound on this bleak Forest album. But where Forest, and by extension, "Like a Blaze Above the Ashes" stands out even more is how it is based in Russia and captures that Russian perspective well. I've always been on the fence on whether location makes the music - for example, I can agree that "French" black metal has a different feel than "Norwegian" black metal but I've never really been too fixated on the idea. Here, I think the fact that Forest is based out of Russia is very important for driving the sound and atmosphere on this album.

Maybe it's because I'm a westerner, but Russia has always intrigued me. Picture a massive country with an austere, but triumphant presence but very wild lands outside the city; always cold, unpredictable wild life and nature, and anything really goes. Now imagine being there at night, but lost in the middle of nowhere. "Like a Blaze Above the Ashes" conveys this mood perfectly and an album like this can ONLY come from Russia.

The album starts with "By the Roar of the Hammers" call and immediately upon starting there are aggressive riffs that are both sorrowful and triumphant. It hooks you in right away and you will get it stuck in your head. Vocals complement the aggression well, which can be described as echoed, distant, raspy, and authoritative. But more importantly, the Russian language really enhances the mood. I would not get the same mood if this was in English or any other language. The first two tracks follow the same general structure - they hook you in, don't change their melody too much, but keep you ensconced in the general atmosphere. The lack of variety might be a bit offputting, but it actually works for this approach. This isn't really an album you want to always feel entertained and surprised in. You want bleak, unforgiving atmosphere, you'll get it here.

The third track, though, is really special, which can be broken into three parts. The riffs in the first section are a bit scattering - picture wandering the wilderness aimlessly while dealing with the dangerous elements of nature and no light in sight....until you get to the second part, which like the first two tracks, has addicting riffs. it even feels like a jam session. The final part is a more melodic closing.

The fourth and last track is a long instrumental with opera-like vocals and solemn sounding guitar. Aptly titled "Obscurity", it captures a number of feelings - sorrow, tranquility, solitude, and mystery. It drags on for a while but I'll mention again, this just one of those albums you want to get engrossed in so consistency and immersion are key. Needless to say, this is something you can only find in Russia.

What makes "Like a Blaze Above the Ashes" so ahead of the curve is how Forest doesn't need to rely on anything but the basic instruments and sound/production quality to create one of the most authentic black metal albums I've ever heard. Even the cover art captures the mood of the album really well. Next time it snows near your parts and your outside at night next to a wall of trees with a full moon looking down on you, I wouldn't be surprised if one of the tracks from "Like a Blaze Above the Ashes" pops into your head. It is an essential album for the collection of any black metal connoisseur.

Back in that mid 1990s sweet spot – after the international explosion of black metal, but before liberal arts students had clocked its uniqueness – there is a wealth of solid albums for the traveller to discover. This is black metal that stayed true to the form first and foremost, but expanded on it in subtle yet important ways, and most importantly, remained faithful to the original ethos. It is creative and original in ways that do not immediately jump out at the listener, you have to pay attention for your rewards, and notice which elements of their predecessors they have expanded upon and developed. This is all just a fancy way for me to say that the hipsters will never find us here. Not least because the Forest are a bit far right for most people’s tastes. Their loss.

Russia’s Forest, fabled stalwarts of the Blazebirth Hall group of bands out East, had a good run of consistent LPs through the late 1990s. The second of which, 1997’s ‘Like a Blaze Above the Ashes’ is for my money the most interesting of these. The reason for this is that subtle blend of variety and conceptual unity. Structurally this is similar to that benchmark of maturity in black metal: Burzum’s ‘Hvis Lyset Tar Oss’. Four tracks of building moods and intensity, that all feed into one another resulting in one standalone piece of music throughout the album’s runtime.

We open with a tremolo riff that makes good use of major keys to convey triumphalism, aided by a very subtle choral accompaniments. The distorted vocals are in the mid-range for black metal, but they are kept distant and muddied with reverb, giving the music space to breath. Indeed, everything about the production points to creating the feeling of being outdoors, on a windswept hill, but this is achieved in more subtle ways than more wind samples. Drums almost never vary from a mid-paced blast beat, serving only to add a sense of urgency that hits the listener at the subconscious level. In minimal black metal such as this, their role in creating subtle urgency is understated yet important.

Track two then builds on the themes of track one and consolidates them. The mood and direction of travel for the music has been established before things deconstruct in track three. The pace slows, as do the guitars. We get simple yet effective stop/start riffs that invoke a sense of finality. The drums finally drop to a marching pace further adding to this almost funereal sequence. Then everything collapses into…obscurity on track four; ‘Obscurity’. Desperately simple harmonies are accompanied by clean chanting put through that same distant reverb. The effect is haunting to the point of overbearing considering how bare and minimal the actual musical components are. It is cold, lonely, open music that excels at invoking these feelings within the listener without any flashy adornments; just intelligent writing and production choices.

Forest used techniques universal to black metal: reverb, lo-fi production, tremolo riffs, blast beats, and created something that transcends the sum of these parts into something beautiful. Because all these components are window dressing to the weighty compositional ideas at work behind them.

Originally published at Hate Meditations

Black metal, for me at least, is more about atmosphere. Sure, the short go-for-the-throat method works for bands like Sarcofago and Satanic Bloodspraying, but I prefer more atmospheric acts. When I came across Forest, I was intrigued by their album Like a Blaze Above the Ashes, which appeared on many top one hundred lists online. When I learned more about Forest, and by extension Blazebirth Hall, I was also put off by the NS influence, as many might be. But if you look past the ideology, you'll find an amazing album.

First thing you'll notice about the album is its recording quality. It's suitably lo-fi with buzzing, fuzzy guitars making up the bulk of the sound. The drums are in the background and definitely not the main focus and the vocals hover over everything, ringing out like an eerie spirit. While the recording itself is lo-fi, the riffs are distinguishable, but the more subtle intricacies are somewhat buried. This is exemplified in the opening track “By the Roar of Hammer's Call”, which sets the tone for the album quite well. It's the shortest song on this album, being seven minutes long, and also the most black metal-ish. Forest subscribe to the Burzum school of droning black metal, and it really works in creating a cold and icy atmosphere.

There's also a more experimental side to this album. The first two songs are the standard black metal, but the other two songs are wildly different. “To the Fiercest Frost” starts of somewhat reminiscent of “Det Som Engang Var” by Burzum, sans keyboards. It then, much like the aforementioned Burzum song, becomes a very good black metal song. “Obscurity” is a folk-ish almost ambient song, with no growled vocals, but mournful wails. It's a good way to add variety to this album, and from the standard black metal form, and a very haunting way to end the album.

Like a Blaze Above the Ashes is a black metal classic. It's exemplary of droning, lo-fi black metal, and also the best representation of what both Forest, and all the other Blazebirth Hall bands were trying to accomplish. If you can look past the ideology of Kaldred and by extension Forest, then you'll find an album worthy not only one listen, but many listens.

Despite being relatively unknown outside the narrow circle of listeners, Forest are one of the strongest black metal bands hailing from the wondrous land of bears and vodka. Taking its roots from one of the oldest Russian black metal formations "Branikald", Forest continued its existence in various forms for five albums, before finally disbanding and spilling out into other projects along the way. The band’s second album, Like a Blaze Above the Ashes, could well be considered the forgotten gem of Russian black metal scene, and probably one of the strongest releases the country has ever produced. Cold, harsh and relentless, the album empties and mesmerizes the listener in its endless sonic snowstorms.

The first half of the record is dedicated to relatively standard black metal songs, formed around several riffs each, tearing through the darkness at breakneck pace which remains pretty constant throughout the two tracks. Paying homage to the traditions of black metal where atmosphere is everything, the fuzzed-out guitars and distant vocals evoke the oppressing blanket sorrow, the kind that one feels knowing that the next dawn won’t be seen by their eyes. Image of war flames is ever-prevalent; in particular a recurring vision is one of a soldier, separated from his friends in the midst of war, on his own under the night skies of a foreign country, fighting for his ideas among the hopeless ruins. This is where we come to the third song, a really interesting composition.

“To the Fiercest Frost” fully justifies its title. The song is divided into three parts; beginning with some meandering chords, that don’t really lead anywhere, but evoking a real sense of being lost, hopelessness without resolve, walking in circles and never coming out. There’s no percussion or vocals here, just a solitary guitar line, occasionally joined by some folk instruments, yet it’s one of the bleakest pieces of music I’ve had a chance to experience. Once the first movement comes to an end, a more defining melody begins the second part, with a picked arpeggio that is just as sorrowful, but this time it has direction, as if the blizzard has finally passed, and the lost wanderer can finally see the houses in the distance; he is walking towards them without knowing if he’ll find help there, but it’s the only sign of life and he takes the chance. Here percussion and vocals enter; the same depraved and estranged scream that guided the first two songs, and picks up the story. Finally, the third movement arrives, which is more reminiscent of the first two tracks. The pace is much faster, tearing through time, possibly portraying the last battle of will, and bringing the song to the close just past sixteen minute mark.

The last track is somewhat of a surprise, though for those familiar with Branikald’s work and the first Forest album this won’t be that new. Played entirely using clean guitar, it feels almost as an epitaph – or epilogue – to everything told in the album. Ghostly, sorrowful melody wraps itself around skald-like clean vocals; it’s the inevitable end, and in the voice there is acceptance together with grief, but also pride and dignity. The war is lost, everyone either passed or faded into the night. Appropriately titled “Obscurity” it is the song that one would sing to the night sky, while the wolves howl at the moon. The track reminded me a little of Urfaust in the use of clean vocals, though unlike their Dutch colleagues they are used more sparingly throughout Forest albums.

A journey into obscurity, mysticism and shaman magic of Eastern woodlands, a blaze of war, sudden death, endless solitude and pain are encapsulated in just over forty minutes of music. While the album may be a little uneven and inaccessible at first, its rawness and immediacy strike deep into the listener; melodic without compromising aggression, haunting without intentional use of atmospheric devices, it’s a voice of many that has built up over the thousands of years in the cold snows of the north. The record is a perfect example of Russian black metal and a reason to cultivate interest in this young but quickly growing scene.

Forest play a very severe and highly militaristic (and needless to say, aggressive!) style of black metal with extremely fast and relentless drum rhythms and equally frrenetic tremolo guitar buzz. The vokillist sounds very distant and harsh to point of hoarseness. The first two tracks have fairly simple and repetitive structures based completely around the guitar riffs with the bass pushing the music along; they don't sound very different from one another though the second track does change quite a bit as it goes along. Some listeners might find these pieces monotonous as they tear along at breakneck speed, the guitars forming a continuous blizzard of distorted noise and the drumming seeming inhuman and menacing; for other listeners, the music can be trancey and hypnotic for the same reasons.

The real glory of this cd is the third track "To The Fiercest Frost" which divides into three parts. First up is a long and very noisy distorted guitar fuzz passage that is so raw and jagged it could strip paint off walls, accompanied sometimes by a trilling balalaika. True, this section doesn't go anywhere much except in circles but there is a tragic, almost dramatic air about it which I find thrilling. The second movement is a slow and solemn rhythmic marsh of very bluesy, steely guitar melodies beyond which there is distant and impassioned singing. This is a very moving section: the singing is heart-felt and despite the repetitive nature of the music there is a majestic and lofty ambience which is also very sad. A burst of guitar noise ends this movement and the third part of the track becomes a fast-flowing vibrato guitar drone.

Track 4, "Obscurity", is another surprise: black metal with (well, nearly) operatic singing! A doleful guitar melody with clear tones repeats over and over while a lone baritone voice treated with echo croons in sorrow for fallen soldiers whose bodies will soon disappear beneath snow and frost. Sounds all quite pretentious I know but the austere approach of the song and the musical repetition impose restraint on a piece that could easily become sentimental and melodramatic. Towards the end, the music seems to break or fade out before going into an all-instrumental outro and I wonder whether this was intentional or the result of poor editing; it is difficult to say with much Russian BM, we cannot assume all Russian metal bands, especially those outside the big cities like Moscow and St Petersburg (Forest hail from Tula which is about 200 miles south of Moscow), have access to good quality instruments and recording facilities.

Uneven in quality perhaps and very lo-fi in sound quality and other technical details and so maybe not suited to those who want tighter and more professional musicianship, I find this recording has a dignity and restrained emotion appropriate to its theme of war and the suffering of those called upon to fight for their country. I'm aware of the band's neo-fascist beliefs and associations but they are not obvious (to me anyway) on this album.

Russia is not exactly known for having much of a black metal scene. There are many crummy NSBM bands that exist in the scene and many people will be left scratching their head if you ask them for a decent black metal band. In fact the only other competent Russian black metal band I have heard is Blackdeath, and even they are not that special. However Forest have managed to compose some excellent black metal with this release.

This album was originally released in 1997 as a demo entitled “Zarevom Nad Prakhom.” What is interesting about this release is that it appears to be made up of two halves. The first half sounds like a cross between polish styled black metal in the vein of early/mid era Graveland and Fullmoon crossed with a slightly cold Scandinavian sound. Through this mixture Forest have managed to compose a masterpiece in the first half of this release.

The first two tracks have a very sad atmosphere to them. The listener is immediately washed over with this feeling right from the first note. The vocals are performed magnificently sounding fairly pained.

The bass and drums are fairly difficult to decipher as they are engulfed by a constant wave of static. Slow mournful riffs are played by guitar that rise above the wave of static and at times also become slightly difficult to decipher. This technique the band uses works superbly.

Now onto the second half of this release. Here the band have composed songs that are about twice as long as the first. The sound has changed dramatically here and the songs are slightly progressive but a little to slow to progress so it becomes over repetitive. The sad atmosphere is now often joined by a more upbeat sound. The joining of these two atmospheres creates a very interesting effect and works well.


There is a more ambient sound and the guitars often play out a more down tuned sound with many drawn out notes that gives it a slight doomish sound. Such is the case for about the first 6mins of “To The Fiercest Frost” where the band plays the same riff the whole time which gets boring after a while. Thank god for the change to an upbeat folk melody. The vocals are rarely used in this song but are warmly welcomed to add to the sound.

The final track opens with a more acoustic sound to the guitars and backed with some male choir vocals which sounds nice but goes on a little to long.

Overall I would say that the first two tracks are excellent with the first being one of the best tracks that I have ever had the pleasure to listen to. The second half is very good as well but at times can become repetitive which is where this album loses a couple points.